


Easy as e

by hariboo



Series: Easy As... [2]
Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Me Vs. Marvel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 07:18:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13230732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hariboo/pseuds/hariboo
Summary: Jane was already standing, grabbing her gear. She looked over at Sif. “You coming with? I’m thinking Preikestolen first. It’s closer and the more recent location. It’d be easier to find whoever is here than it’d be in New York.”Sif grinned, “Let me fetch my sword.”





	Easy as e

**Author's Note:**

> Challenge: I write Jane (and Sif) into Thor 3 without changing the basic plot of the movie proving it can be done if only to myself.  
> Result: three ideas. This is Version 2 - Jane and Sif go to Norway, science is done, and say hello to the calvary. This one gets a little more involved because of science and having to figure out how to get across the universe. Also battle scenes are complicated.

Jane noticed it by chance. She was just coming back from lunch -- practically a force feeding, seeing as she was dragged out of the lab -- when one of her setups beeped. It took Jane a second to recognise which one, because it couldn’t be, could it? She headed over to the back of her lab where she had set up a some scanners and servers to keep track of some very specific readings, and now they were going off. Well, they went off. Twice. In the last hour, just minutes after she’d gone to lunch. 

Damn, Jane thought, sitting herself down and started to double check the reading. She shouldn’t--couldn’t be optimistic about this. Just because she wanted a particular outcome didn’t mean it just wasn’t a fluke or some other quantum similarity. 

Taking a deep breath, Jane sat and pulled up the readings. She had to be sure. 

After a few minutes, she looked up, her mouth feeling dry and called out. “Sif! Darcy!”

Both women rushed in seconds later. Darcy had two pens in her hair and her glasses were slipping down her nose. Sif was still dressed in her workout clothes. 

“Jane?” they echoed each other, pushing through the doorway to the lab. Sif had a worried look on her and Jane felt she was not going to lessen that worry. 

“The Bifrost scanners went off.”

“No shit! Thor’s back?” Darcy asked. Sif’s brows arched high on her forehead. She crossed her arms. 

“Jane, not that I do not believe your machine and skill, but are you sure?”

Jane turned back to the readings. “Maybe, I’m not sure. Maybe it’s not Thor. He’s not here, is he?” she added, hating how bitter she sounded. Clearing her throat, she continued, “But it was something, and it was quick, from the looks of it. One signal touched down in New York and then another happened about a half hour later in Norway.”

Darcy hissed. “You sure he’s not here? He could have gotten lost? He has before.”

“He is not here, Darcy,” Sif said, and Jane was glad she said the words instead of having Jane say them herself. 

“It was up by…. Preikestolen, at any rate. Right on a cliff.”

Sif hummed. 

Jane looked over her, but Sif added nothing else. It used to frustrate Jane when Sif’d do this, but now she was just use to it. If Sif wanted to gather her thoughts on the matter for a few seconds, Jane would happily let her. “But what I’m more interested about is that it was only two Bifrost readings. If we do believe it’s Thor, and I can’t imagine what other Asgardian would go to New York, then there should be four Bifrost readings. One to get to New York, one to leave, one to get to Preikestolen, one to leave. Unless it’s two seperate Asgardians going to New York and to Preikestolen. Sif?”

She crossed the room and stood by Jane’s shoulder, arm crossed, lips pursed. She looked at the readings on Jane's screen. “The Warriors Three would not show up on Midgard without coming to see me, and Heimdall knows how to find me. Thor would not come and not see you Jane, unless it was a grave matter. No other Asgardian I believe would come here, Lorelai was an exception. And Loki, well...” 

Jane agreed. “So if it is Thor, then…”

“Shit’s about to hit the fan,” Darcy more or less finished Jane’s train of thought. “You gonna check it out?”

Jane was already standing, grabbing her gear. She looked over at Sif. “You coming with? I’m thinking Preikestolen first. It’s closer and the more recent location. It’d be easier to find whoever is here than it’d be in New York.”

Sif grinned, “Let me fetch my sword.” 

As the moved across the lab, Darcy’s voiced called after them. “And how the hell are you planning to get across the country?” It took Darcy a second. “Jane, no! You’ve barely even started field testing!”

Jane laughed, looking over her shoulder. “No time like the present!”

-

As she inputted the coordinates of the Bifrost landing site from Preikestolen, Jane glanced at Sif. 

“You sure you wanna come?” 

Sif leveled Jane with a look. 

“Right, stupid question.” She looked down at the device and swallowed. Darcy did have a point, she hadn’t field tested as much as she could have and Converange’s effects were long gone. “Fair warning, it might backfire on us.”

At that, Jane felt Sif’s hand on her shoulder. “I trust you, Jane.”

Darcy looked over at them. Jane had told her to stay back in case of anything. She knew who to call. “It’ll be fine!” She sounded overly enthusiastic. Nervous. Jane felt similarly. “If it is Thor, tell him he still owes me a game in Mario Kart!”

Jane laughed. Darcy knew exactly how to settle her nerves. She looked over at Sif who nodded. 

“Here goes nothing.”

Jane turned the device on and the portal appeared. Shaped like a sphere, it looked like a giant bubble had just erupted in the middle of the the lab. In the bubble she could see a cliff side and storm clouds. A shiver went down Jane’s back and taking Sif’s hand, they both looked at each other and stepped forward.

It felt like being pushed through a dense air pocket. Jane’s ears popped. Her lungs felt near crushed and taking the next step out of the bubble felt near impossible but Sif’s arm dragged her through. On the other side, Jane almost collapsed as her knees felt weak and her breath slowly returned to her. Her fingers shook as she flipped the device off and sphere popped out of existence. Sif’s arm around her waist was the only reason she was standing. 

“Nine hells, Jane are you alright?” Sif asked, tiling Jane’s face up. 

Jane sucked in a deep breath. “Yeah, yeah. It was… that-- I think I gotta figure out to calibrate for the strain on the human body.” She looked over at Sif who appeared fine. “You okay?”

“Yes, it made me slightly short of breath, but I feel fine.”

“Good, good,” Jane said, taking another slow deep breath. “I think I’m gonna need a minute before I do that again.”

“Jane,” Sif intoned. 

Jane ignored it and took a shaky step forward. Sif moved with her. “You see anyone?”

Something prickled at the back of Jane’s head. It was familiar, it buzzed at her temples, but she couldn’t place it. She scanned the area.

Sif turned her head and frowned. “No, but look, the Bifrost site.” She pointed a few feet ahead and together they made their way to it. Jane started to pull her scanners and modified geiger counter out of her bag. The buzz intensified, like a headache growing, but not painful. Jane frowned and went to work on the readings and looking at the markings, Sif prowled the area. 

Over last year, Jane had found it interesting to work with Sif. She had no intellectual interest in Jane’s work like Thor had, but she was always curious to how she worked and was surprisingly helpful in her practicality. Jane had the suspicion it came from having grown up having to navigate personalities like Thor and Loki's. Sif might not have cared for the science behind Jane’s work, but she cared enough to extend her help and support often. She was even less indulgent than Darcy and Thor had been about Jane’s eating habits, but she didn’t hover about either. Sif had slowly carved out an interesting routine on Earth, mostly consisting of learning different Earth fighting styles, teaching others, becoming eerily good at video games, learning to ride motorcycles, casually assisting when Persons Who Shall Not Be Named Because Of The Wanted Lists They Were On when they needed it, and accompanying Jane to boring speeches and awards ceremonies, acting as half date-half bodyguard. (The last becoming necessary after a kidnapping attempt at CERN. Fun for all, especially Sif.)

So when Sif called out, Jane knew it was important. She rarely interrupted Jane at work.

“Jane, quick!”

Rushing over, Jane stopped as Sif had extended her arm out. “Look,” Sif pointed to the ground and Jane hissed. Scorch marks. Familiar scorch marks. Lightning. 

Thor had been here. 

Slowly, Jane circled the area and the second she noticed it was when she understood what the buzz was. 

The metal was cracked. It looked like broken rocks, but burnt at the edges. As she crouched towards it, extending her hand, she felt the static still emanating from it. It smelled like ozone. 

“Jane?” Sif questioned, stepping up to her side. She grew quiet when she noticed what Jane was looking at. She cursed in Asgardian, a word the All-Speak did not translate. Only the oldest words in the Asgardian language didn't translate.

It was Mjolnir, Jane was sure. It laid in pieces on the ground by her boots. Fist sized chunks of a metal that should be unbreakable hissed in the air as the lingering traces of Thor’s power still echoed within it. 

Thor had once explained to Jane how Mjolnir worked. It was magical object, as he called it, made from the heart of dying start. It’s density would have been impossible to lift if not for Thor’s own powers and the spells that dwarves and forge workers of Asgard had worked into the hammer. It had been around since before his birth, created in the early days of Yggdrasil, made for a warrior in the times before Asgard rose to the top of the Nine. It had been one of the tools of building Asgard and the Nine. It had been a great honour for him to be able to wield it. It took in the power of its wielder and honed it as it’s master wished. Thor channelled his lightning through it and could call down storms. The ability to fly that came from it was spell activated by spinning it, challenging his power though to active it, and letting the star try to move through the heavens again. 

The metal was extremely conductive, but also it had an incredibly storage capacity for Thor’s (or it’s wielder's) power so Thor wouldn’t need to expend it at all times. 

The spell to lift it was about worthiness, but worthiness could be lost.

Looking at it on the ground, a chill went down Jane’s spine, but this was not like before. She'd seen Thor be "unworthy" of the hammer. Thor was still worthy, still alive her heart told her, but the hammer was destroyed. And that was worrisome in it self. It was meant to be indestructible. 

Crouching by one of the chunks of metal, Jane extended her hand carefully to the rock. A hair's breadth from it, Sif’s hand struck out and slapped it away. 

“Jane, take care! You do not know what has happened here. It could be spelled, or worse,” Sif said, pulling her baton that acted as camouflage for her glaive from her belt loop. She didn’t trigger her transformation, but Jane felt the air hum around them. 

Staring up at Sif, who stood with her shoulders straight and eyes scanning the area, Jane bit her lip. 

“Mjolnir won’t hurt me,” she said, reaching out to grab the metal again. Sif hissed but she let Jane try and pick up one of the pieces. “I don’t think it can hurt anything right now.”

Jane lifted the metal. 

It was warm in her hand, the edges of it still sparked with static. There was still power in the metal. Thor had to be alive, she thought, his power thrumming between her fingers, comforting. Jane swallowed the lump in her throat at the thought. 

8

Sif inched closer. “What could have done this?” She extended her fingers towards the metal and bit back a curse when her skin touched the metal. It sparked lightly, seemingly electrifying her. Jane watched as the same spark smoothed between her own fingers, a tickle more than anything. 

“Looks like it likes you more, Jane.”

“Hmm,” Jane said, and looked at the area around them. Save the Bifrost site and the scorch marks on the ground there was nothing here. An empty cliff side. She looked at Sif. “Maybe we should call Heimdall?”

Sif agreed and went to stand by the Bifrost site to call. For a brief second Jane thought everything was going to be alright. She’d see Asgard again and see Thor and everything would be explained. She could see the worried and anxiety war in Sif’s eyes. Since her recall to Earth, she’d been quiet about what lead her leave Asgard. What she had implied was not difficult to believe, but it was still unpleasant to think about.

As Sif called for Heimdall, they both looked at each other and as the minutes passed their faces became twin masks of worry. 

Heimdall did not answer for ten minutes. 

Worry turned into fear. 

-

The trip back to the lab happened like a whirlwind after that. Jane gathered up any bit of Mjolnir she could. The pieces lifted easily in her hands, but sparked and burned at Sif’s fingers every time she tried to help. It was something to think about, but at the moment it wasn’t something they could focus on. 

Jane shoved the pieced in the bag and sucked in a breath as she turned on the device again. The bubble appeared and Sif gave Jane a long look before cupping Jane’s elbow and together they walked through the bubble. 

It felt the same as before, crushing and disorienting. 

If it wasn’t for Sif hand, Jane was sure she’d have collapsed. There was something that quantum field that was too much for humans to traverse through comfortably. She’d really need to work on that. 

As they stepped through to the lab, Jane wobbled and very ungracefully was sick. 

Darcy rushed to them, voice high and worried, asking what had happened. She grimaced at Jane’s vomit and lead Jane away from it. Jane fumbled with the device to turn it off as she half listened to Sif explain what they had seen as Darcy pushed her to sit down. 

“Wait, Mew Mew is gone? Thor too?” Darcy asked, moving across the room to grab a towel from the bathroom and laid it over the sick. “Fuck, where did we leave the mop?”

Jane straightened. “No… yes… It’s broken, I have the pieces with me. Thor wasn’t there, but… He’s alive. I know it.”

Sif put a glass of water in front Jane. “Drink.”

Jane wanted to argue but her mouth felt disgusting. She took a sip of a water, swished it around her mouth, and spit it in the trash can by her desk. Heftign her bag with the remaining pieces of Mjolnir onto the table, she started to dig through it and pull them out. “Thanks, Sif.” Darcy ambled back in the room with bucket and mop and Jane winced, feeling bad about the clean up. “Sorry, Darce.” 

Darcy waved her off. “What are we gonna do now,” she asked, “Go to Asgard?”

As Sif and Jane exchanged a look Darcy looked between them. “You’re kidding, right? You barely made it across to Norway in one piece!”

Jane took another sip of water and stood. “Sif was fine and out of all of us she’s the only that needs to go. I’m just gonna need to figure out to change the settings to allow for intergalactic travel. Doing on Earth is fairly easy, it’s just changing the coordinates on one location in space. Asgard is more complicated, it’s lightyears away, and even with the arc energy it wouldn’t be able to handle the connection across the galaxy. All my tests have failed so far. I could barely get a connection to the Moon to work. Not to mention having to deal with _that_ interstellar drift.” Her gaze fell on her bag. “But… if I could have something that creates a near infinite loop of energy feedback for the arc energy…. I could create a stable portal to Asgard. Potentially.” 

“Jane, you cannot be serious.” Sif stepped up to her side.

“Sif, I don’t have any better ideas and tell me you don’t think that something is definitely wrong on Asgard.”

Sif frowned and crossed her arms. “The power of the hammer is unstable. You could hurt yourself.”

Jane bit her lip and started to pull out the metal chunks. “Try for Heimdall again, but we need a Plan B.”

“Wait, Heimdall didn’t answer?” 

Jane shook her head. “Nope, and something went down in Norway.”

Darcy whistled and doubled down on cleaning up. She looked at Jane over her shoulder. “What else are you gonna need for your plan to work?”

Grinning, Jane was thankful for Darcy and rattled out the list of things she needed, and turned to Sif. “We need options. You try Heimdall, I’ll try this. Work to our strengths.”

Sif’s face was still a mask of worry but she nodded. “Very well, divide and conquer it is.”

“That’s the Goddess of War I know and love,” Darcy held out her fist for Sif to bump. Jane smiled as Sif did. 

-

Jane never really knew how long she worked once she started sometimes. She’d get into the zone and everything became a bit of a haze until she crashed or someone forced her to take a break. Sif and Darcy managed it only a couple times as Jane reworked the casing of the device and tried to get Mjolnir’s metal to create a connection with the arc reactor and produce a viable conductive link. 

It must have been days and then Sif burst into the room. 

Jane glanced up from her work and blinked. Sif looked… frazzled. She was sporting some serious bedhead and her eyes were puffy. It was the least goddess-like that Jane had ever seen her look and she’d seen Sif sweaty and fighting men three times her size. 

“Sif?”

“I made contact with Heimdall!”

Jane dropped her soldering iron. “Bifrost?”

Sif shook her head and stumbled to one of the chairs in the lab. Her hands were shaking. Jane felt her heart being to pound in her chest. It felt like thunder rolled through her body. 

“Sight. I… I never had the aptitude or patience for it, but it runs in our blood. Thor, the Queen, and King they could do it.” Jane nodded, Thor had told her once. “I’ve never really tried, but it happened. I fell asleep after my latest attempt to contact Asgard and he must have known I was trying.” 

Standing, Sif began to pace the length of the lab. “Jane something foul has happened on Asgard. Thor is gone, lost on some world. Loki is alive." Her voice faltered for a beat. "Someone Hela is back. She’s… their sister? A forgotten first born! I-- Heimdall did not have much time to explain, but Asgard is in danger and we need to get there as soon as we can.”

The pounding in Jane’s heart grew. “Thor’s alive?”

Sif nodded. 

"Loki too?"

Sif's nostrils flared. 

“Right. Lost?”

“Heimdall did not explain much, but Thor is alive and well and trying to return home.”

“Sounds like Thor,” Jane laughed, surprised by the sob that echoed it. 

“It does,” Sif smiled. Then she walked to Jane and held her hand. “And Jane, Heimdall gave me the coordinates we need for Asgard.” 

At that Jane outright sobbed. 

“Looks like Plan B is a go,” Darcy said from the doorway. Jane didn’t know when she had gotten there, but it was clear she had heard.

All three of them laughed. 

-

It took Jane another two days to get Mjolnir, the arc reactor, and the device to all work together. When she was done, she stood next to Sif in the lab, wringing her hands. Sif was already in her battle gear. Darcy was standing by with a fire extinguisher. Why? Jane wasn’t sure, but it didn’t seem like a bad idea. 

“This might not last long, it’s gotta bridge an incredible distance.”

Sif set her jaw. “I’m ready.” She softened her look as she met Jane’s eyes. “Are you sure?”

“I shouldn't--”

“He’d want to see you.”

“It might not be smartest thing,” Jane replied but she was unsure and she knew Sif could tell. If anything the only reason they all even considered her not going was the possible effect the trip could have on her. 

“All right. Darcy, take care.” Sif looked over at Darcy who saluted and gave her a wobbly smile. 

“Kick ass!”

“Jane.”

“Ready.” Jane flipped the device on. 

The bubble blinked into existence. Less shimmer on the edges and the familiar sight of the inside of the Observatory could be seen in it. Sif exclaimed in joy and Jane laughed. It had worked! She built a way to Asgard! To the universe! Tears gathered in her eyes and then they saw it. 

A wolf, huge and dark like night sky, landed near the entrance to the Observatory. It growled. Jane hadn’t even considered that sound could come through the bubble. The roar vibrated in her heart. 

Everyone in the lab gasped and Sif charged forward with a yell. 

Darcy and Jane looked at each other. 

Eyes going wide, Darcy dropped the fire extinguisher. “Jane… don’t—”

It was too late. 

Jane had reached out and grabbed her bag holding the remainders of Mjlnoir and rushed through. She flipped the device off as she did. She couldn’t risk Darcy’s life again. 

-

Jane stumbled through into the beginnings of chaos, her finger flipping the device off as she touched the Observatory floor. 

Without Sif to help through the portal, there was the risk she’d collapse as she passed, but instead of the crushing weight of the field she had experienced before this time it felt more like walking through a heavy air pressure system. It was doable. Not comfortable but doable. Maybe Mjlnoir’s metal helped stabilize the field as well as adding that extra boost of power. 

Her elation at the device working better only lasted second as she watched Sif rush towards the ensuing battle on the bridge. The wolf was huge and was already being fired upon by a spaceship. (Spaceship!!) Beyond the wolf there was a crowd o f people trying to get across the bridge and someone called out Heimdall's name. They wanted the swords. They were trapped. On the other side of everything Jane stood, alone. Unnoticed. 

_Shit!_

She needed to do something!

Looking at the device in her hand she looked at the wolf and remembered Convergence. 

In that moment Sif yelled and lept on the wolf. Her sword driving into the side of the wolf as tried to immediately buck her off. 

“Get off! I’ll shoot you!” Someone on the ship warned Sif off the wolf. Sif only slipped slightly to the side. More because of the wolf trying to snap at her than due to the warning.

“Sif! I have an idea!” Jane ran across the bridge trying to get closer to where Sif was trying to distract the wolf. 

At her voice Sif glanced over her shoulder and grinned. On the wolf, she looked at home for a beat, until the giant animal tried to get off, it’s giant teeth grazing her. “Jane!”

“Keep him busy, I’m gonna try to--”

Jane was cut off as the wolf roared again, almost bucking Sif off, and she could hear some other yells from the fight on the other side of the wolf. It rushed forward. Jane caught sight of Heimdall pulling out his sword. The ship above had stopped firing on the wolf when Sif had jumped on and was hovering near by. 

A second later Jane saw someone jump from it--

Bruce!

Wait.

“Bruce?” Jane yelled as Bruce’s body fell and instead of shifting into the Hulk he hit the crystal path with terrible sound. Jane watched as his body laid broken on the bridge and choked on the bile that rose like wave in her throat. What had he been trying to--

The wolf growled again, lunging forward. 

Sif stood on the wolf’s giant back and lifted her sword over the wolf’s head as it did.

The shift was so fast, she almost didn’t see it. 

The Hulk’s hand wrapped around the wolf’s tail and pulled. 

On the wolf’s back, Sif’s strike didn’t hit as strongly as she had planned as the momentum from the Hulk’s pull had her changing trajectory in mid swing. The sword glanced the neck of the wolf, from what Jane saw, and Sif tumbled and rolled onto the bridge. 

Jane felt her heart stop and then restart. It had all taken about a second but everything had changed. The Hulk roared, pulled the wolf back, grappling with it, and tumbling off the bridge. 

Sif stood, shaky but strong, on the bridge her sword in hand. She steadied her feet under her and charged forward towards Heimdall and the rest of the Asgardians. Above them the ship hovering was being attacked and and the fight on the bridge began in earnest. Jane was still a fair bit away and while her plan for the wolf was scrapped she still could help. She hoped. 

With the Hulk and wolf gone, Jane kept running and flipped her device on. Behind the group of Asgardians fighting the _oh shit those are skeletons fighting, why did Asgard have to be this way_ , Jane thought, as a small grouping of them were shifted out of existence and if her calculations were right… yep, that splash let her know where they landed. She grinned. _That’s science, bitches!_

Heimdall looked up at that point and even over the clash of swords Jane caught his smile. 

“Quickly, come!”

Near Heimdall, Sif spun and turned drove her sword into one of the skeletons. She looked straight at Jane and yelled at her to stay near the edges of the battle. “Don’t let them near you!”

Jane nodded. She was a pretty smart woman and she knew she couldn’t fight those around her. She kept near one of the postings of the bridge, trying to thin out the skeleton army as best she could. Above her the ship that had been firing on the wolf, the ship Bruce had jumped from (and that was a story she was gonna need later), began spinning out and Jane saw the trajectory of it. 

Right about where she was. 

_Sorry, Sif_ , Jane thought as she ran into the fray. Sif was a good ten feet away from her. Skeletons between them. 

Being short had its advantages sometimes Jane had long been since aware, but she never thought one of them would be being short and slight enough to move through and army of undead. She kept as close to the edges as she could and tried to make her way to the women and young children not fighting she saw within the Asgardians. Her device was beeping, her power source draining quickly. The trip across the universe, even with Mjolnir piggybacking half of the power had maxed it out. 

Calculating she had about thirty minutes left to use it, Jane made sure she could shift out as many skeletons as she could.

Ducking and slipping near the edge of the battle, Jane almost tripped over a fallen sword. Suddenly, swift as the wind, Sif appeared at her side, pulling her close. 

“Jane! You are too brave for your own good!”

“Cool move with the wolf,” Jane panted, trying to catch her breath. That was more exercise than she’d down all year. Sif pushed Jane behind her as the skeletons converged again on them. Heimdall slid forward in a move cooler than Jane had ever seen outside the movies and swiped at them. 

“Jane Foster, welcome,” he greeted, a warm smile gracing his face before he turned and charged through a new round of skeletons. “Back!” he commanded, striking forward.

Jane moved further back, but Sif kept her stance and spun her glaive as Heimdall fought and for a second looked like he was going to fall. And then the skeletons were swatted back by a huge rock creature. 

Jane blinked. Sif blinked. Heimdall blinked. 

The creature spoke, a gentle accent coming through. “Hey man, I’m Korg. This is Meek. We’re going to jump on this spaceship and get out of here. Wanna come?”

As one, Sif, Heimdall, and Jane looked behind them to where through a smoke fog they hadn’t notice before, a huge spaceship loomed over head. And then…

“Your saviour is here!” Loki’s voice rang out from the landing ramp. The fog parted around him and he grinned wide as he walked forward. Again, as one, Sif, Heimdall, and Jane looked at each other and then at Loki who walked from the landing ramp all smiles and greetings, guiding everyone up the ramp. Next to her, Jane heard Sif’s growl, and for a second almost felt sorry for Loki. Almost.

As Loki made their way over to them, Heimdall stepped in front. Sif, Korg, and Meek had already turned to the encroaching skeletons. Jane kept her device at the ready, but she needs to be more careful about it now. Also, that spaceship looked pretty interesting. 

Loki glanced at Jane as Heimdall spoke. “Saw you coming,” he said, dry and teasing. 

“Of course you did,” Loki didn’t roll his eyes but it was in his tone. He looked at Jane. “Try not do die…” he paused, “Get on the ship.”

“I can make sure they don’t get closer to the ramp,” Jane replied, waving the device in her hands. Loki looked at it and nodded. He squared himself, Heimdall next to him, and Sif slipped next to him. Her glaive grazed his side. Loki jaw clenched.

“Good to see you alive, Prince of Lies.”

“Now Sif, I know you’re angry, but look at the bright side,” he waved his arm toward the skeletons coming towards them. “You’ll get to work it all out.”

Sif crouched into her fighting stance. “Oh, I don’t think there’s enough of them to state my anger." She looked him up and down. "The horns are still stupid.” 

Jane had never really seen Loki look nervous before. It was awesome. 

The time to talk however was over as the skeletons reached them and the battle began once more. Sif was swinging her sword, slipping into the fray with ease, her back to Loki and Heimdall. Jane shifted any of the soldier skeletons that got near her, opening a path not only for herself but for others. Sif laughed in delight at Jane’s antics. “Quick, get on the ship!”

As soon as she got close to Sif, Sif pushed Jane between her and Heimdall. 

Jane tried not to think about how she still hadn’t seen Thor anywhere. Then as if her thought has called him forward somehow, the biggest concentration of lightening she’d ever seen struck down at the palace. It looked like the heavens had opened up and at once her heart began to pound in relief. He was alive! Tears gathered in her eyes and she smiled. 

Thor was alive! And he was--

Here. Jane watched as Thor moved through the sky towards them, his power sparking out of him as if his body could no longer contain it. When he landed on the bridge, it was like he was lightning himself as he hit the ground and burnt the skeleton soldiers closest to him. As other rushed him, Jane watched as he spun and moved through the army rushing at him like a storm. Every move he made was fueled by his power in a way Jane had never seen before. In her hands, the device with a piece of Mjolnir vibrated slighted. As did the piece she had in her pocket. They remembered his powered. It made Jane smile. 

Her body felt primed, like even across the bridge she could feel the edges of Thor’s power as it filled the air. Jane inhaled. The familiar smell of ozone was comforting. 

They all watched. 

And from the other side of the bridge, the ship that crashed began sparking. Bright flames of colour shot through the air… Fireworks? Jane glanced over but her eyes drifted back towards Thor. However the rest of the skeleton army moved towards it and someone came out of the ship in bright white armour and began striking them down. 

“Who is that,” Sif questioned, her glaive at the ready. 

Loki grinned. “A Valkyrie.”

From the look on Sif’s face, it was clear that Loki had just dropped a hell of a bomb, but there was barely any time for questions as Asgardian and their new allies rushed forward. The skeleton army’s momentary lapse in attention gone. It never got old to Jane what amazing fighters they all were. They were truly otherworldly. Sif’s speed, Loki’s agility, Heimdall’s force, the Valkyrie’s skill, and Thor’s sheer power was overwhelming to witness. 

Jane continued to make sure that any skeleton soldiers that got too close to the Asgardians that were rushing up the ramp were shifted out and dropped off the bridge. It wasn’t much, but it was something. Women and children pushed behind her, being helped on board by Enjaherd and others. 

The battle continued around her. 

Soon there was a quick respite as the Asgardian drove back the skeletons. Jane watched as Thor stepped up to Loki and they exchanged words. He looked terrible. His hair was cut short, he was bloody, and one eye was gone. Jane’s heart ached for him. She watched a he caught Sif’s eye and smiled, their fondness for each other evident as they hugged quickly. Jane couldn’t help but be glad Thor and Sif had gotten their best friend back. 

He didn’t take note of her yet. She wasn’t surprised. Jane was still small and pressed near the crowd of Asgardians. She thought about moving towards them as Sif started to glance over her shoulder. 

“Yes, yes, we’re all happy to see each other. This isn’t over.” The one named Valkyrie moved to the trio of friends, calling their attention to the figure coming down the bridge. They all turned, Sif’s gaze catching Jane’s quickly. She shook her head. Later, they didn’t have time for this now.

The Asgardians walked forward. They were too far for Jane to hear what they were saying. 

Heimdall walked up to her and touched her elbow. “You should get on the ship.”

Jane shook her head, eyes still on the four Asgardians. “I can wait, everyone else on first.”

It was then Thor looked back at the crowd. 

She saw the exact second he took note of her. He caught himself before he fully turned back, and she watched as he took an aborted step towards her. His mouth moved and while Jane couldn’t really hear him, the shape of her name on his lip was familiar. 

Lifting the device up, she waved. “I got this! It works now!”

Thor smiled at her, bright like the sun after a storm, and he turned back to speak to the others. He was saying something to Loki and Jane wished she could hear them. 

Jane watched as Loki ran back and with a quick look to Jane, he slid to a stop. “This device how does it work?”

“W-what?”

“The device! Explain it to me!” Loki said. 

Jane blinked, confused, but only for a second. The brothers had a plan. “It can shift you from place to place instantaneously. You’ll need coordinates of the location you want to go. Or you want to send someone. Why-- Hey!” and like so the device was snatched from her hands and Loki kept running to the ship on the other end of the bridge. 

“You’re a jerk!”

“It better work!”

Loki’s shout was drowned out by the crowd. Jane stayed with them, but turned back to see Thor rush forward against the woman dressed in black that was walking up the bridge. That had to be Hela. Jane still had so many questions, but they were all gonna have to wait till later. The Valkyrie and Sif followed Thor into the fight. It was amazing to see the three of them shift into the empty spaces left by the other in the fight. Thor was a force of nature, Sif speed, the Valkyrie fierce.

The crowd surged around Jane then and pushed her up the ramp. Heimdall pressed by her side, keeping her steady. Overhead the ship flew towards the palace.

She heard Thor’s shout to Heimdall about lifting off. Jane wanted to yell that like hell they were leaving him, but Hela struck out again and Thor hit back. The pulse of his power echoed in her palm where she had one Mjolnir's pieces. The ship took off, but as soon as it did, it shook. Jane smacked into Heimdall as a huge black stalagmite broke up through the ship. 

Jane regretted giving Loki the device as more skeletons climbed up the formation. 

Just then an Asgardian pulled out two sub machine guns and fired upon the skeletons and jumped of the ship. 

Everyone left pushed further back into the ship, except Jane who tried to keep her eyes on Thor, still battling. Still fighting. She wanted to jump off and help him. The metal in the hand pulsed.

On the bridge, Jane watched as the Valkyrie and Sif were batted to the ground and Thor struggled to his feet. She watched as Hela taunted them and then…

Fire erupted. 

Thor had once told her about the legend of Ragnarok, Surtur, and how it was his duty to prevent it. Except… it looked like he and Loki just caused it. Oh god, everyone needed to tell her what the hell was going on. She was so confused. Asgardians were always so extra. Thor and Sif were lucky she loved that about them. 

Speaking off, outside they were still fighting. The Valkyrie railroad the woman in black as Sif swiped at her with her sword. Thor called down his power then. With the conductor that Mljnior had proved for him, it was exponentially more potent and flared out. He crushed the bridge where Hela stood and she fell with it.

Behind them, Surtur -- it had to be him; honestly her list of questions was only growing -- grew hotter and bigger from the depths of palace and struck out against Asgard. Around her, Asgardians grew quiet as they watched their home destroyed. Heimdall's face broke Jane’s heart. 

Below them, Sif, Thor, and the Valkyrie stood on a crumbling realm. 

_Why did she give the device to Loki!_

Her fingers itched. The metal in her grip sparked. 

_Come on, come on_ , Jane prayed to the universe to save the only gods she believed in. 

The Hulk jumping on the bridge and hitting Surtur wasn’t exactly what she had meant, but she was gonna go with it. A short minute later, he took another leap, this time the three Asgardians in his grip. Thor under one arm, Sif and the Valkyrie under the other. They landed hard on the top of the ship, it shook slightly under their weight. Jane looked up and slumped against the wall. 

Under them, Asgard burned. 

As the ship rose higher into the thin stratosphere above Asgard, everyone moved further into ship into a viewing deck. 

It was there as she looked out at fading Asgard, that Jane felt a presence come up behind her. Her chest tightened with hope and love. She felt the edges of his power still lingering over his skin before he even touched her shoulder. 

Her name was a breath on his lips before she turned. 

His face and body were battered, and his smile was sad. 

“You’re here, Jane,” he said, cupping her cheek. 

She smiled. “We thought you might need some help. We found,” Jane held up her hand. He looked down at it and closed his hand over hers. He kissed her hand and they turned to the window. 

Sif, the Hulk, and the Valkyrie stood next to them and as one they watched Asgard supernova.

Thor’s hand tightened around hers. She squeezed back. 

\- 

Later they stood flanked Thor as he sat on the captain chair of the ship. Loki had returned. He had tossed Jane’s device at her when he appeared in Thor’s room, telling her she might come useful yet. She had rolled her eyes as she left the room. The brothers needed to talk. She had gone to find Sif who had been busying stoically fangirling out over the fact there was an actual Valkyrie on the ship. Valkyrie herself took the attention well enough. Something like pride had flickered in her eyes when Sif had mentioned she was one of few properly trained Shield Maidens of Asgard since the Valkyrior had been destroyed and never rebuilt. Maybe they’d rebuild now, Jane wondered, as she watched the two women speak and bond over the fight they had participated in. Valkyrie and Hulk filled them in a bit of where Thor and Loki had ended up after they left Earth, filling in the gaps of the timeline Jane had been building in her head. 

Hulk however had been the most interesting of Thor’s companions, not just because he was in space. He had filled that in quiet succentially: “Quinjet, space, crash, boom.” Which made Jane laughed. She had never thought building a space worthy Quinjet would have lead to this, but here they were. She had patted Hulk’s hand, telling him she was glad he had survived, and he had called her tiny and smart. Thor had told her a bit of what happened with Bruce and she could only hope he still lived in Hulk somewhere.

Now, they all watched as Thor sat on his new throne as Valkyrie (both The and name) called it. Next to her stood Hulk (Jane had to remember to drop the The here too), Sif, and Heimdall flanked it on the other side. Next to them Korg, holding some space bug. Loki stepped up, careful, and stood next to Valkyrie. 

As he turned and waved to his people behind him, Thor reached out and offered Jane his hand. She took it, standing next to him, as they planned where to go to next. 

He looked up at Jane and smiled when he said: “Earth.” 

“Yeah, home sounds good.” 


End file.
